Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I recently got a nice used speedometer for my 39 120. It spun nicely with your fingers, and when hooked up to an electric drill, spins smoothly and easily to 110 mph. However, when I hook it up to the cable in the car, it slowly moves up to a max of about 15 mph, while the car is doing 40+. I've greased the cable, cleaned up the head end and cut off about 1/8" from the transmission end, as I've seen cables "grow" creating pressure on the speedometer head. When I hooked up a spare 51 speedometer to the cable, it worked fine. Any suggestions as to what to do next?

Thanks

may be twisted or torqued in the dash? something rubbing on the cup? Seems if it was working off the drill before mounting something changed. Take it out and test again.

Is the square on the original cable end the same size as the new speedo receiver and are both pieces in good condition or might one part be worn and slipping.

I've taken the cable on and off numerous times, with the same results each time. I think I'm going to try a new cable and see what that does.

One other thing-- as Customclipper55 mentioned any chance of a bind. Sometimes the needle is very close to the glass if the glass to frame gasket is missing. Could that glass be pressed back against the needle when you tighten the screws to mount the speedo

Uhhhh. How does the ODOMETER keep up????

What were symptoms of the OLD speedo and/or why did u change speedo's???

The old speedometer had much the same problems. On the old one the trip odometer would work, but the speedometer would barely move. I may try the glass gasket angle and see if that changes things. Course the new speedometer worked great when I hooked it up to the electric drill, but maybe it's because it was spinning so fast.